Next week begins our second Saturday service at the Orland Park Campus. Which means we’re all going to have to make some adjustments. For me, that means this will be my last Saturday blog. I’m going to cut it back to once a week, or just whenever I feel like I have something to say. This has been a good discipline for me and I will keep it up, but I need to find some way to make up for what two services is going to mean to my schedule.
I do ask that you pray for all of us as we head into this. Honestly, I don’t like having services on Saturday in the first place. I have a lot of pastor friends who just decide that they aren’t going to do it because of the toll it takes on the staff. We try to help make up for it in other ways, but the truth is if we didn’t have Saturday services it would make life a lot easier for all of us. It's especially hard when your kids are only off on the weekend and you are working the whole weekend (many of you also work weekends – you get it).
So why do we do it? Well, I suppose if money wasn’t an option, we could build a big enough auditorium so that we could accommodate everyone in one or two services. Many churches are like that. I find it to be poor stewardship to have a huge building that only gets used once a week, but that’s what a lot of churches do. We haven’t had that option in many years. If you are growing and reaching people, it’s hard to have enough building capacity for that option.
But the other reason is that it gives people options. The bottom line is that our church exists to help people find Jesus and not everyone can find him on Sunday morning. More options creates more opportunities for people to come and worship (the lady who cuts my hair closes up her shop at 5 PM on Saturday, so now she can come to the 5:45 and still help us save room for new people on Sunday).
So we are all making adjustments to make room for more people to find Jesus. Student Ministries is moving their worship to Saturday night because when they meet on Sunday they take up parking spaces and it forces their parents to come on Sunday – which means new people can’t get in. So they are moving. I’ve heard from some families who are going to be negatively affected by this because their kids aren’t going to be able to come on Saturday. I’ve heard from others who couldn’t come on Sunday and are excited to be able to come on Saturday. It's all an adjustment. (And by the way, our mid-week youth programs are the main staple of youth ministry here at Parkview, anyway. Get your kids here on Tuesday night for HS and Wednesday night for JH).
These are all the things we do because we want to be like the shepherd in Jesus' story in Luke 15 who left his 99 sheep out in the open country so that he could go and find the one lost sheep. For Jesus it was never about what is good for the “saved,” it was always about what could reach the “lost.” So we will do the same. Jesus said he didn’t come for the healthy; he came for the sick (Mark 2:17).
You can help by inviting people to join us. I know it sounds like a paradox, but I want more people here. I want both Saturday services to be full! I want to have the problem of figuring out where we put the 5th! This is what we were made for!! So invite people to “Are We There Yet?” series and please think about moving over to Saturday night at 4:00 or 5:45.
We will be spending some time in prayer for all of this on Sunday night the 18th at our “PAUSE” night of prayer and worship. Come and join us at 5:30 PM at the Orland Park Campus as we pray for the Spirit of God to fall upon us in even a new way.
And be here this weekend to hear Barry Cameron, the author of the ABC’s book we’ve been reading and using for this series. He’s a pastor of a church our size in the Dallas area and he’s got a great heart for helping people find financial freedom, and he’s done it himself. I hope you will share your weekend with us.
Grace and Peace,
Tim
Thank you for your thoughtfullness and consideration in everything you do to make His Church the Beacon on the Hill. That all who are Lost can see it and find it and The Door that opens into the Light in the Darkness that is our LORD and Savior JESUS Christ. And for not being distracted from that focus, the purpose of all of it...the Main Thing stays the Main Thing. And how that changes Everything. It's like before we find Grace it's all about us, afterward It's ALL about JESUS and all about Sharing HIM with others. I, for one, am seriously bummed about no Saturday blog, and encourage you to keep blogging at least once a week. It's important and wonderful and so reassuring in this crazy world, to get a glimpse into the heart and mind of our Pastor Tim. We love you. We Thank GOD for you. GOD Bless you and all of His church in as we Make More Room! Halleluja! :)
Posted by: Paula | October 17, 2009 at 10:20 AM
having too many people is a wonderful challenge for a church. glad to hear you are preparing a way to keep you and the staff from burning out. keep up the great job! and yes, my family is going to saturdays. :)
Posted by: Mr. Puggle | October 17, 2009 at 01:59 PM
We are so excited about the second Saturday service being added! We started attending Parkview about 5 1/2 years ago on Saturdays. My oldest child is a Jr higher now and we had to change to Sundays @9 for her service... It was a hard change for us. We loved Saturdays,it just was a wonderful time for us. I also do childrens worship every week and have to say, I truly didn't feel 100% on my game on Sunday mornings!! no one in our family did.... We are all SO EXCITED to go back to Saturdays @ 4:00!!! October 24th can't come soon enough for this Parkview Family Thanks and Amen
Posted by: Ronda | October 17, 2009 at 06:52 PM